1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for enhancing the acid catalytic activity of inorganic oxide material such as alumina or gallia which involves the steps of contacting the material with a reagent selected from the group consisting of ammonium fluoride and boron fluoride, contacting the reagent contacted material with an aqueous ammonium exchange solution such as ammonium hydroxide or salt, and calcining the ammonium hydroxide or salt solution contacted material.
2. Description of Prior Art
The inorganic oxide material alumina has been provided with catalytic activity in the past by contacting same with boron fluoride (BF.sub.3). The contacting has been followed by hydrolysis and calcination. Crystalline aluminosilicates such as zeolites X and Y have been enhanced in catalytic activity by treatment with volatile metal halides. This is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,354,078 and 3,644,220 .
The present method, however, provides various inorganic oxides, such as alumina and gallia, with significantly higher acid catalytic activity than prior art methods. This makes it possible to supply matrices of much wider range of acidity levels for commercial zeolite catalysts for use in cracking, alkylation and isomerization reactions.